Jarrett Stidham Had Blunt Quote on Broncos’ Offensive Woes After Loss to Patriots

The Broncos quarterback didn’t mince words on his team’s devastating loss.

Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham weighed in on his team’s AFC championship loss to the Patriots on Sunday. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Jarrett Stidham, the Broncos’ hero of the hour before Sunday’s AFC title tilt against the Patriots, played long enough to see himself become the villain in an ugly 10-7 loss that ended Denver’s fairytale run this postseason.

In just his fifth start in seven years, Stidham got the nod under center Sunday in the wake of Bo Nix’s season-ending ankle injury and appeared ready to rise to the occasion early on, especially after making an impressive 50-yard-plus throw to get the Broncos into the Patriots’ red-zone territory. He would cap off that drive with a touchdown, marking the game’s first score—and Denver’s last.

As snowy conditions set in at Empower Field, the Broncos’ offense fell apart in the second half. Stidham, who would throw a critical interception on Denver’s final drive, couldn’t get the passing game going on back-to-back three-and-outs, and Denver missed a game-tying field goal try before falling 10-7 in an unpredictable matchup that felt like it could have gone either way. The Broncos’ defense was holding down the fort against MVP frontrunner Drake Maye, limiting him to just 86 passing yards and one rushing touchdown, but when the game was on the line, Stidham visibly struggled.

Stidham opened up about two game-changing plays in his postgame press conference: the Broncos’ failed fourth down conversation attempt and his costly fumble in the second quarter:

“I felt like the first half we really moved the ball well at times,” Stidham said. “You get an opportunity, fourth-and-1, convert and try to go up 14 if you can. ... Just didn’t work out on that one play, and that’s just football.”

“Obviously I can’t put our team in a bad position like that,” Stidham said, of his fumble that led to a quick Patriots touchdown. “The pressure, he just got up on me real fast and I was trying to get rid of it. Like I said, I can’t put the ball in a position like that, so that was completely on me. ... I thought I had thrown it forwards... probably should’ve just eaten the sack anyway.”

When asked whether the wintry conditions might have affected the Broncos’ offense later on in the game, Stidham refused to use the snow as an excuse.

“The conditions are what they are,” continued Stidham. “Both teams were playing in it, so I think we only had a handful of plays in the third quarter when we were going into wind that way. In the fourth quarter, it was just back and forth and back and forth and trying to make plays. Like I said, the conditions are what they are.”

"The conditions are what they are. Both teams were playing in it."

Jarrett Stidham had no excuses on the weather affecting the Broncos in the AFC Championship. pic.twitter.com/dC5mEscLNJ

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 26, 2026

The Broncos quarterback went on to say he had a private locker room conversation with Bo Nix after the loss, and that Nix had been very supportive of him all week.

Stidham finished with 133 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception while taking three sacks, a so-so outing considering it was his first Broncos start of the 2025 season. The Auburn product knew a thing or two about being an underdog, having beaten two No. 1-ranked teams in Georgia and Alabama back in 2017, but he couldn’t achieve the same Cinderella-esque results in Sunday’s deflating loss. The 14-3 Broncos will go out as unexpected AFC West champs who nonetheless fell painfully short of their Super Bowl dreams this winter.

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